Salted - Student Literature Guide (Sample)

Created by the Middle School Students of 
Montessori School of Westfield
Objectives
 
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
  • Understand genre
  • Define the characteristics of a fantasy and discuss ways Salted qualifies as one
  • Point out examples of direct and indirect characterization
  • Compare and evaluate characters, including leadership abilities
  • Identify and state the point of view and motivation of each character
  • Identify story elements
  • Identify key themes
  • Answer questions completely with supported proof from the story
  • List the identifying physical characteristics of the different kinds of Selkies/seals:
  • Harp Seal
  • Ringed Seal
  • Common Seal
  • Ribbon Seal
  • Leopard Seal
  • Cape Fur Seal
  • Southern Elephant Seal
  • California Sea Lion
Pre-Reading

​Before the students read Salted, have them identify their attitudes and beliefs about courage, survival, and hardship. Ask them to describe any personal experiences they may have had with them.
 
Ask them to write in their journals beginning with this prompt:
  • What does it mean to be courageous?
 
Invite students to share their responses with the class and lead a discussion.

Chapter Questions (Sample)

Chapter One: Kellen
  1. What is “twelving”?
  2. Which sport do Eddie Bennett and Ross Owens play?
  3. What kind of personality traits does Kellen display? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
  4. Was Garrett justified to throw Kellen onto the wooden bench? Why or why not?
  5. Should high school students be more closely supervised?
 
Chapter Two: Garrett
  1. Where does Garrett find himself when he opens his eyes?
  2. What happened to Garrett’s legs in the water?
  3. Describe Garrett’s state of mind as he experiences the conflicting feelings of enjoying the water and believing he’s drowning.
  4. What do we learn about Owens though his actions at the pool?
  5. In your opinion, should Ms. Morgan have called the ambulance?

Chapter Three: Lenny
  1. What are “catchas”?
  2. How would you react to being a slave? Explain your response.
  3. Who is Oscar’s guardian?
  4. What is the name of the runaway?
  5. ​What are the roles of each member of the team? Why do you think they were given those roles?
Character Analysis Project
 
The students should pick two characters and analyze them in depth. They could use the above graphic organizer to compare and contrast them. Encourage them to use a thesaurus to find more unusual and descriptive adjectives.
 
When the students have completed the character analyses, they can select a project to share their work with the class. Projects could include:
  • Prezi or PowerPoint presentation comparing the two characters
  • A scrapbook, either a hard copy or digital – it could include pictures, drawings, cartoons, captions, etc. showing the comparison between the two characters
  • Character “hoodies” or Selkie suits that would show the different characters
  • Character profile – fake online social media profiles
  • A character personality poem describing the two characters
Types of Conflict
 
What is conflict? Put the question to the students and write the answers they brainstorm on the board. Explain that, according to the dictionary, conflict is …………
In literature, there are two main types of conflict:
  1. Internal – a struggle within the character’s mind. For example, a struggle to make a decision or to overcome a feeling. This is known as character vs. self.
  2. External – a struggle between a character and someone, or something, else: character vs. character, character vs. nature, or character vs. society.
 
Put the students in small groups. Ask them to see if they can come up with examples of internal conflict in any books they have read, movies they have seen, or within their own lives. After five or ten minutes, bring them back to a whole group to share ideas.
 
In Salted there are several examples of both types of conflict. Students can complete the following chart as they read the book.

Salted Mini-Quiz (Sample)

Multiple Choice
  1. What does Lenny do for a living?
    1. He fishes
    2. He sells slaves
    3. He catches slaves
    4. He teaches
  2. Who is the person Lenny is told to catch?
    1. Henry Boucher
    2. Marisa Bourgeois
    3. Declan Dolan
    4. Oscar Collins
  3. What kind of seal is Lenny?
    1. Leopard
    2. Common
    3. California sea lion
    4. Ringed
  4. Declan Dolan is whose father?
    1. Oscar
    2. Henry
    3. August
    4. Lenny
Short Answer
  1. What happens to selkies when they don their suits? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  2. What is Lenny’s initial mission? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  3. Lenny’s team comprises of which selkies? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  4. When the team finds Marisa in the cafeteria, what happens? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  5. Why is diversity of the group so important? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  6. What is the allegory of the selkie slave trade? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Essay Questions

  1. What factors define a person’s identity in Salted? Do individuals have any power over what they become, or are their characters entirely determined by family or race? 
  2. What is the role of slavery in Salted? Discuss various characters’ attitudes toward property and ownership. Whose viewpoint does this book seem to support? 
  3. In Salted, which character do you feel most akin to? Explain using supporting evidence from the text.

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